Inhorgenta 2017 Set to Impress with Gem Forum and Pearl Forum Seminars

Munich-based trade event Inhorgenta has taken its seminar content up a notch for 2017, incorporating a Gem Forum and its fourth annual Pearl Forum on the opening two days of the show.

The international buying event, which officially opens its doors on February 18, will welcome a plethora of speakers, including jewellery expert Joanna Hardy FGA DGA, GemWorld International president, Richard Drucker FGA (honorary), and pearl expert Dr Hubert Bari.

Alongside its seminar programme, Inhorgenta offers its 'Carat' hall dedicated to gemstone, diamond and pearl wholesalers. The range on offer also includes natural geodes, discs and many other gemstone specimens.

Assessing the gems on display at Inhorgenta Munich 2016

Inhorgenta 2017 Gemstone Forum schedule – Saturday 18 February

Once the excitement of the morning has died down, Inhorgenta will present its Gemstone Forum, starting with a talk by Joanna Hardy from 2.30pm-3.30pm titled 'Coloured Gemstones in Jewellery Design Through the Ages'.

This will be swiftly followed by 'Exploring the World for New Gem Discoveries' – a lecture by gemstone miner, trader and 'modern Indiana Jones', Yianni Melas.

The Gemstone Forum offer will continue with an update on gemstone treatments and deposits by Dr Claudio Millisenda (DGemG), who will conduct his talk at 3.30pm in German. Visitors can, however, benefit from a translation service played through a headset. Finally, the day one schedule will conclude with a talk by Gemworld International president, Richard Drucker FGA (hons), who will discuss 'Pricing Colour: The Methodology and Challenges'.

Any visitors to Munich who return to the show for day two, Sunday February 19, will also have the chance to experience the fourth annual Pearl Forum – a series of talks and seminars that have proved especially popular in recent editions of the trade event. Take a look at the video below to see Dr Laurent Cartier FGA sharing his words of wisdom at the 2016 Pearl Forum...

The theme for the 2017 Pearl Forum focuses on unexpected types of pearls, including finding innovative ways of using pearls in jewellery and creative means to market them. ‘The Rare and Unique World of Natural Pearls’ will be the first talk of the day at 10.30am, led by Dr Hubert Bari. Dr Bari is a graduate of the University of Strasbourg and a lecturer at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. He has dedicated years to designing and organising exhibitions, and was the first to introduce audio guide systems more than 20-years ago. More recently, Dr Bari orchestrated the Pearls Exhibition, which travelled from Qatar to Tokyo in 2012, and later to London’s Victoria & Albert museum.

A selection of pearls on display at Inhorgenta Munich 2016

At 11am, Douglas McLaurin, of Cortez Pearls, will discuss pearls from Mexico, followed by a discussion on ‘Pushing the Boundaries of Pearl Design’ by designer Melanie Georgacopoulous. Both of these lectures will be quickly succeeded by ‘Selling Pearls Online: Connecting with the Millennial Market’ – a talk by Pearl Paradise founder, Jeremy Shepherd.

Shepherd founded PearlParadise.com after discovering the world of pearls during his travels around Asia. Today, the digital company with its ‘farm-direct prices’ approach is worth a staggering $20 million, despite very little advertising.

The fourth annual Pearl Forum will conclude with a screening of ‘Power of Pearls’ – a film created by directors Ahbra Perry and Taylor Higgins of On the Reel Productions. The duo has travelled extensively to some of the most remote regions of the earth in order to learn more about pearls. Their film, which uses a combination of underwater, aerial and slow motion footage, will be formally premiered later this year.■

First published in the Spring 2018 issue of Gems&Jewellery, Christa Van Eerde MA MLitt DGA FGA explores the history of some of the world’s most magnificent pearls sourced in the Gulf region, including Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE, famously regarded as the historic heart of the pearling world.

From Gems&Jewellery Spring 2018, Gem-A assistant tutor, Beth West FGA DGA, explores the remarkably epic journey of diamonds, and how their characteristic strength is rooted in their archaic origins and resilient survival.

Collectors, gem experts and jewellery lovers were buzzing with excitement in Geneva on May 15 when a whole host of incredible items hit the auction block. The three most prominent pieces – the Farnese Blue diamond and two 50 carat diamonds – soared far above their estimates to secure eye-watering prices.

Guy Lalous ACAM EG is on-hand to summarise some of the more in-depth articles from Gem-A's The Journal of Gemmology. Here, he explores an article on radiocarbon age dating of natural pearls from the Winter 2017 issue.

With blue diamonds smashing auction world records in the last two weeks, and the eagerly anticipated auctions of a phenomenal Kashmir sapphire and the Farnese blue diamond on the horizon, Gem-A explores the latest fascination with blue – the traditional colour of trust and loyalty.

With 2018 being the Year of European Cultural Heritage, Gem-A is excited to share Sarah Steele's important collaborative project between England and Spain to preserve and maintain traditional jet workings, which has recently been granted the European Heritage Seal.